One sign of fall, is the tree leaves begin to change colors into hues of red, orange, and gold. What a beautiful time of year to be outside and enjoy nature! Another sign of fall is seeing milkweed seed pods starting to dry out in preparation of being harvested.

Milkweed is the only host plant of monarch butterflies, meaning it’s the only plant monarch butterflies will lay eggs on and the only plant monarch caterpillars will eat. Milkweed also provides a food source for many other pollinators.

The Monarch butterfly population continues to decline and one of the reasons for their decline, is the lack of milkweed. An easy way to help monarch butterflies is to provide a habitat for them by collecting the seed pods and planting the seeds.

Here are a few tips on how to collect Common Milkweed seed pods:

• Become familiar with common milkweed to avoid harvesting pods from similar plants such as hemp dogbane and swamp milkweed. 
• Pods will appear slightly gray, begin to dry, and have brown seeds inside.
• If the center seam of the pod pops with gentle pressure, they can be picked.
• Don’t collect pods that are already open, as they might be infested with insects.
• Do not drop off pods that are damp because it can cause mold and damage to all the pods collected.
• Please don’t rubber band your pods together. They can damage the equipment used to remove the seeds from the pods and we will be held liable.
• Place collected pods inside the bin that will have a large paper bag. Do not keep your pods in the bag you used to bring them in. Instead, please add all common milkweed seed pods collectively in the large paper bag. 
• Keep the pods in a cool, dry area until you can deliver them to the Richland SWCD office.
• Only collect from your property or property you have been given permission to go on; do not trespass.
• Only collect from your property or property you have been given permission to go on; do not trespass.

During the winter, seeds from this year’s milkweed seed pod collection can be removed from the pods to be distributed for planting next year.

If you have questions about collecting milkweed seed pods or other Richland SWCD programs go to https://richlandswcd.net/residential/programs/.

Richland SWCD develops, implements, and assists landowners, government agencies and our partners with a wide range of natural resource conservation programs.

Programs and assistance of Richland SWCD are available without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, or veteran status.

By Richland Soil and Water Conservation District